Fondée en mars 2024 par Crespille Pige, Crépine Tossou, Joyce D’Almeida and Sephora Zouzou, Inclusion Togo s’adresse aux hommes transgenres, aux femmes transgenres, aux personnes queer et intersexuées. La principale mission de l’organisation est d’assurer le bien-être des personnes trans, queer et intersexes dans un environnement sûr.

Founded in March 2024 by Crespille Pige, Crépine Tossou, Joyce D’Almeida and Sephora Zouzou, Inclusion Togo caters to trans men and trans women, queer and intersex people. The main work of the organisation is to ensure the well-being of trans, queer and intersex people in a safe environment.

La vision / Vision

Un Togo inclusif et équitable ou toutes les personnes transgenres, queer et intersexe en particulier les plus vulnérables (travailleuses de sexe, personnes vivant avec le VIH, sans abri) vivent dans la dignité, jouissent de leurs droits fondamentaux et participant pleinement au développement social, économique et culturel.

An inclusive and equitable Togo where all transgender, queer and intersex people, especially the most vulnerable (sex workers, people living with HIV, the homeless), live in dignity, enjoy their fundamental rights and participate fully in social, economic and cultural development.

Mission

Œuvrer pour l’inclusion, la protection et l’autonomisation des personnes transgenres, queer et intersexe vulnérables au Togo, à travers des actions communautaires et des plaidoyers.

To work towards the inclusion, protection and empowerment of vulnerable transgender, queer and intersex people in Togo, through community actions and advocacy.

Objectifs / Objectives

Renforcer la prévention, la prise en charge du VIH chez les personnes trans, queer et intersexe, en promouvant l’autonomisation financière chez les plus vulnérables.

Strengthening HIV prevention and care for trans, queer, and intersex people, while promoting financial empowerment among the most vulnerable.

Domaines de travail / Areas of work

• Renforcement des de la prévention et prise en charge chez les personnes trans, queer et intersexe dans un contexte ou la prévalence du VIH chez les personnes transgenres est de 35%.
• Renforcement de l’autonomisation financière des personnes trans, queer et intersexe.
• Renforcement de l’estime de soi des personnes trans, queer et intersexe.

• Strengthening prevention and care for trans, queer, and intersex people in a context where the HIV prevalence among transgender people is 35%.
• Strengthening the financial empowerment of trans, queer, and intersex people.
• Strengthening the self-esteem of trans, queer, and intersex people.

Contacter / Contact

Email: inclusiontogo68@gmail.com
00228 90830769
Facebook

Founded in Kenya in 2023 by Atwine Emmalia, a transfeminist human rights defender, and other activists (names withheld for security reasons), Action for Trans Refugee Kenya (ATREK) came together in response to the urgent need for safety, support, advocacy and community-led services for transgender refugees, asylum seekers and other gender-diverse people living in Kenya. ATREK is a refugee-led, community-based organisation. ATREK primarily works with transgender and gender-diverse refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people living in Kenya. The organisation particularly supports transgender women and other gender-diverse people who experience homelessness, violence, discrimination, social exclusion, poverty, insecure housing and barriers to healthcare and essential services. The organisation’s work also supports LGBTQIA+ refugees and asylum seekers, including people living with HIV, human-rights defenders and other community members facing heightened vulnerability. ATREK aims to ensure that transgender and gender-diverse people are meaningfully included in community responses, advocacy and decision-making.

ATREK works to promote the safety, dignity, health, human rights, inclusion and self-determination of transgender and gender-diverse refugees and other vulnerable LGBTQIA+ people in Kenya. The organisation’s work includes providing or coordinating emergency support, safer-space and shelter assistance, psychosocial support, human-rights advocacy, health information and referrals, community education, capacity building and livelihood empowerment. They also work to raise awareness of the specific challenges faced by transgender refugees and to advocate for more inclusive and responsive services.

At present, the organisation is not formally registered in Kenya. ATREK continues to explore safe and appropriate pathways toward formal registration while carrying out our community work and supporting transgender refugees and other vulnerable LGBTQIA+ people.

Vision

A safe, inclusive and empowered community in which transgender and gender-diverse refugees and other LGBTQIA+ people live with dignity, equality, freedom, security and full access to their human rights and opportunities for sustainable development.

Mission

To build and strengthen a safe, inclusive and resilient community of transgender and gender-diverse refugees through emergency support, protection, advocacy, psychosocial well-being, access to health and human-rights information, skills development and sustainable livelihood opportunities.

Goals/Objectives

• Promote the safety, dignity, rights and inclusion of transgender and gender-diverse refugees and asylum seekers.
• Support access to safer shelter, emergency assistance, food and other essential needs for community members facing crisis and homelessness.
• Improve access to transgender-inclusive healthcare, HIV-related services, sexual and reproductive health information and appropriate referrals.
• Provide psychosocial support, peer support and community-based responses to trauma, isolation and social exclusion.
• Strengthen awareness of human rights and advocate against discrimination, violence and exclusion.
• Build the leadership, knowledge, skills and capacity of transgender and gender-diverse refugees.
• Create sustainable livelihood and economic-empowerment opportunities that support independence and resilience.
• Build partnerships and strengthen collaboration with local, regional and international organisations working on refugee rights, LGBTQIA+ rights and social justice.
• Ensure that transgender refugees are meaningfully represented in discussions and decisions that affect their lives.

Focus Areas / Projects

• Safe Shelter and Emergency Protection: ATREK works to support transgender and gender-diverse refugees who are experiencing homelessness, unsafe housing, eviction, violence or displacement. The organisation seeks to provide safer accommodation, emergency shelter support, food, basic necessities and protection assistance. Safe shelter is especially important because many transgender refugees face discrimination and harassment when trying to access housing.
• Transgender Health, HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: ATREK supports access to accurate health information, transgender-inclusive healthcare, HIV prevention and treatment services, sexual and reproductive health information and referrals. The organisation also supports community members who face barriers to accessing medication, healthcare facilities and other essential health services.
• Psychosocial Support and Mental Well-Being: ATREK provides peer support, community connection and psychosocial support to transgender and gender-diverse refugees affected by trauma, violence, forced displacement, isolation, discrimination and insecurity. The organisation promotes healing, resilience, self-care and supportive community networks.
• Human Rights Advocacy and Protection: ATREK documents and raises awareness of the human-rights challenges affecting transgender refugees and advocate for safety, dignity, equality and inclusion. The organisation also participate in networking, learning and advocacy spaces to ensure that transgender and gender-diverse refugees are represented and their experiences are heard.
• Livelihoods and Economic Empowerment: ATREK promotes skills development and income-generating opportunities to strengthen economic independence and resilience. The organisation’s livelihood activities have included creative and artisan-based initiatives, sewing and bag-making, clothing and fashion-related work, and other community-led economic empowerment projects.
• Community Education and Capacity Building: ATREK provides information, training and capacity-building opportunities related to human rights, health, safety, leadership, community organising and self-reliance. The organisation supports transgender and gender-diverse community members to develop skills and participate meaningfully in leadership and advocacy.
• Community Building, Networking and Partnerships: ATREK works with community groups, service providers, human-rights organisations and other partners to strengthen support systems for transgender refugees. The organisation participates in learning and networking opportunities and collaborate on initiatives that promote inclusion, protection and community well-being

Contact

+254758646254
Email: actionfortransrefugeekenya@gmail.com
Instagram

Founded in Nigeria in March 2022, Supporting Trans, Intersex, and Gender Non-Conforming People Initiative (STAG) was initially a peer-support, community organising and safe space network for trans, intersex, gender diverse and gender non-conforming people from around 2018/2019. STAG Initiative works with womxn, trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non-
conforming people, and other underserved LGBTQI+ community members in Nigeria. The network was begun by Kelsey Brookes, Claudia, and Gloria Henshaw (Juniper), and 16 other trans, intersex, gender diverse and LGBQ+ community members. The organisation’s work particularly centres people who experience multiple layers of exclusion, including trans women, trans men, intersex persons, gender-diverse persons, LGBTQI+ youth, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), people living with HIV, sex workers, displaced persons, and community members facing homelessness, family rejection, violence, health exclusion, and legal insecurity.

STAG Initiative works at the intersection of advocacy, empowerment, safety, health justice, and human rights for womxn, trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people in Nigeria. Their main work includes crisis response, safe housing support, gender-based violence response, legal and psychosocial referrals, SRHR and HIV-related advocacy, community documentation, leadership development, movement building, and policy advocacy. They also create safe spaces where community members can access care, information, support, and collective power. STAG was born out of a deep collective frustration with the violence and discrimination faced by the communities mentioned above, and their work is rooted in ensuring that no one is left behind or erased. STAG advocates for justice, provides safe spaces and services, supports GBV survivors, strengthens community-led crisis response, empowers marginalised communities, and challenges the systems that produce violence, exclusion, and discrimination. STAG was registered in 2025.

Vision

A society where everyone, including trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people, can thrive and have full access to comprehensive healthcare, education, and empowerment, when they want it and how they want it. A future where no one has to hide who they are, explain their existence, or negotiate their dignity before accessing care, safety, education, or opportunity.

Co-founder, Kelsey Brookes says,

“As a visionary leader, I strive to create inclusive spaces and drive systemic change to ensure that every individual, regardless of gender identity, can thrive and be treated with dignity and respect.”

Source: https://www.vitalvoices.org/fellow/kingsley-kalu/

Mission

To create an inclusive society where anyone, regardless of gender identity, can live freely and safely.

Goals/Objectives

• Promote the safety, dignity, and human rights of trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non- conforming people, and other underserved LGBTQI+ communities in Nigeria.
• Provide crisis response, safe housing, psychosocial support, legal referrals, and survivor-centred care for community members facing violence, homelessness, family rejection, or insecurity.
• Advance access to inclusive healthcare, SRHR services, HIV prevention, treatment literacy, and gender-affirming information and support.
• Strengthen community leadership, especially among trans, intersex, and gender-diverse young people.
• Document community experiences, rights violations, movement histories, and evidence for advocacy and policy change.
• Build solidarity across generations so that older and younger trans, intersex, and gender-diverse activists can share knowledge, context, experience, strategies, and skills.
• Advocate for laws, policies, systems, and services that respect bodily autonomy, inclusion, safety, and justice.

Focus areas

• Crisis Response and Safe Housing — STAG supports trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non-conforming, and LGBTQI+ community members experiencing violence, homelessness, family rejection, threats, forced displacement, or urgent safety needs. This includes safe housing, emergency relocation support, case management, and referral coordination.
• Gender-Based Violence and Legal Protection — STAG provides survivor-centred support for community members affected by gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, blackmail, family violence, public harassment, and rights violations. The organisation also supports referrals to legal, psychosocial, and protection services.
• SRHR, HIV, and Health Justice — STAG advocates for access to inclusive healthcare, HIV services, SRHR information, treatment literacy, mental health support, and gender-affirming care information. Their work responds to the
  exclusion of trans, intersex, and gender-diverse people from mainstream health systems.
• Trans and Intersex Movement Building — STAG creates safe spaces for leadership development, peer learning, advocacy training, and community mobilisation. The organisation is particularly interested in strengthening intergenerational learning within the trans and intersex movement, because of the widening gap between older and younger activists. This gap is leading to the loss of knowledge, political context, lived experience, advocacy skills, and movement memory.
• Documentation, Research, and Data-Driven Advocacy — STAG documents lived realities, human rights violations, health access barriers, and community histories. The organisation uses evidence to support advocacy, policy engagement, donor engagement, and movement learning.
• Climate Justice and Social Protection — STAG integrates gender and climate justice by recognising how crisis, flooding, displacement, poverty, and environmental insecurity affect trans, intersex, gender-diverse, and other
  marginalised communities.
• Economic Empowerment and Education — STAG supports access to skills, education, empowerment opportunities, and leadership pathways for underserved community members.

Contact

Email: info@staginitiative.org / tgnpn.ng@gmail.com
+2348137760417
Facebook
Instagram
X (Twitter)
TikTok
YouTube

Founded in Kampala, Uganda as a grassroots coalition by John Grace and others on the 1st of August 2020, Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium (UMSC) specifically prioritises and centres trans and gender diverse (TGD) youth who have been disproportionately targeted and driven underground by recent legislation (e.g. Anti-Homosexuality Act). While UMSC’s work is deeply rooted in TGD survival, their mandate encompasses the broader LGBTQ+ community, including LGBT+ sex workers, LGBT+ HRDs and LGBT+ PLHIV (people living with HIV). The organisation also focuses on LGBT+ individuals with intersecting vulnerabilities, such as displaced TGD youth and those living with disabilities. UMSC operates as a coalition of over 25 decentralised grassroots safe spaces and community-based protection organisations. Because TGD individuals are often the most visibly targeted within the broader LGBTQ+ umbrella, UMSC’s main work involves providing highly secure emergency housing, physical protection, and trauma-informed psychosocial care. The organisation utilises Peer Health Navigators to bypass hostile public clinics—where TGD persons frequently face intentional misgendering and abuse—to safely link them to life-saving HIV/AIDS services. The organisation is officially registered and holds formal national-level public health legitimacy, as it is officially accredited by the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC).

Vision

A Uganda where marginalised communities, centring trans and gender-diverse youth, achieve true independence and self-determination. A future where TGD individuals are completely empowered to live with absolute bodily autonomy, build self-sustaining livelihoods, and access healthcare entirely on their own terms—free from systemic violence, arbitrary eviction, and reliance on hostile institutions.

Mission

To cultivate the absolute independence, resilience, and self-determination of marginalised communities—centring LGB, trans and gender-diverse (TGD) youth, sex workers, and individuals living with HIV—by building a self-sustaining, decentralised network of safe spaces across Uganda. UMSC is committed to breaking cycles of reliance on hostile institutions by empowering vulnerable populations with independent, stigma-free HIV/AIDS service linkages, trauma-informed psychosocial support, and the tools required to defend their own human rights and bodily autonomy.

Goals/Objectives

• To facilitate the transition of displaced and unhoused LGB, trans and gender-diverse (TGD) youth from precarious survival to enduring independence by maintaining protected, decentralised shelter networks that provide the essential foundation for reclaiming their autonomous livelihoods.
• To develop community-led, stigma-free health linkage infrastructures that empower LGB, TGD individuals overcoming homelessness to oversee their HIV/AIDS care and holistic health with absolute self-determination, effectively ending dependency on hostile or exclusionary public health systems.
• To expand localised, peer-driven psychosocial frameworks—such as our Resilience Circles—designed to dismantle the trauma of displacement and internalised shame, providing our community members with the mental fortitude necessary to achieve total structural and personal independence.

Focus areas

• UMSC’s core thematic areas are Emergency Housing and Transitional Shelter, HIV/AIDS Health Autonomy, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), and Structural Independence.
• For trans and gender-diverse (TGD) community members specifically, their projects are meticulously designed to disrupt the pipeline from AHA-related eviction to chronic homelessness. The organisation operates specialised safe spaces that provide immediate physical sanctuary for displaced TGD youth. From this secure foundation, they run trauma-informed “Resilience Circles” tailored to help TGD individuals process the acute trauma of homelessness and systemic violence, rebuilding their mental resilience.
• Furthermore, to ensure TGD members can safely transition to full independence, UMSC’s Peer Health Navigators facilitates secure, peer-led health linkages. The organisation bypasses hostile public clinics—where TGD persons frequently face intentional misgendering, blackmail, and service denial—by physically escorting them to trusted, non-hostile care centres or distributing underground HIV self-testing kits. 
• Their ultimate project focus is equipping formerly unhoused TGD youth with the physical safety, mental resilience, and health autonomy they need to permanently exit crisis survival and rebuild self-sustaining, independent lives.

Contact

Website
Email: minorityshelters@gmail.com  / umsc@minorityshelter.org 
Facebook
Instagram
X (Twitter)

Watch our interview with co-founder, John Grace, 14 August 2026

UMSC documentaries

UMSC in the media

• PlanetRomeo Foundation: https://www.planetromeofoundation.org/umsc; 
• Global Press Journal’s feature “Shelters in Uganda Unite to Safely House LGBTQ People” https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/uganda/network-hope-shelters-uganda-unite-safely-house-lgbtq-people; 
• 76Crimes’ article “Five homeless shelters welcome LGBTQ Ugandans” https://76crimes.com/2020/10/23/five-homeless-shelters-welcome-lgbtq-ugandans; 
• GoFundMe campaign story “Donate To Uganda’s LGBT Shelters” https://www.gofundme.com/f/minorityshelters; 
• New York Times piece https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/world/africa/usaid-africa-uganda-lgbtq.html; 
• LGBTQ groups question US health agreements with African countries — Washington Blade, February 2026
• LGBTQ Ugandans targeted ahead of country’s elections — Washington Blade, January 2026
• Mpox outbreak in Africa declared global health emergency — Washington Blade, August 2024
• Ugandan Constitutional Court to consider challenge to Anti-Homosexuality Act — Washington Blade, December 2023
• Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium — Official Website
• How Police and Criminals Use Uganda’s Antigay Law to Find Blackmail Targets — Wall Street Journal